In the film about Jackie Robinson's first year in the majors, Chapman shows up spitting one racial epithet after another from in front of the Phillies' dugout at Ebbets Field, a monologue of bitter bigotry that left Tudyk feeling slightly hungover after each day of filming.

I spoke with Chadwick Boseman a few weeks before the film's opening and discussed carrying the legacy of such a beloved sportsman, seeking the approval of both his family and living widow Rachel, and all he learned working opposite leading man Harrison Ford.

In telling Robinson's story, Helgeland doesn't dwell on the endless barrage of racist bile that Robinson (and his wife) endured, but he doesn't shy from it either. As a result, Robinson's achievement takes on more meaning and more power.